


Adoption

by Indiana_J



Category: Alice in Wonderland (2010)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-20
Updated: 2012-09-20
Packaged: 2017-11-14 16:12:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/517175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indiana_J/pseuds/Indiana_J
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the gardens of Hong Kong, Lord Ascot takes Alice under his wing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Adoption

When the _Wonder_ reached the docks of Hong Kong, the entire operation ground to a halt.  It was of no surprise to Lord Ascot who had spent what felt like most of his adult life dealing with governmental red tape of varying countries.  Afterall, China was notoriously secretive and it would take a great deal of talk and a great more in the way of bribery in order to see Alice's wild idea to fruition.  
  
He used the time to deal with Alice as the apprentice that she was.  After all, most male apprentices started their careers at a much younger age than the twenty, nearly twenty-one, that she was now.  The intelligence she had proved to have gave her an edge as she threw herself into her work.  Her father had been a shrewd businessman indeed but, having seen no need to impart anything important onto his young daughter, had neglected to mention quite a number of vital things about the business itself.  Never mind vital to actually being a _part_ of it.  If it had been anyone else ...

Well, if it had been anyone else, they wouldn't be sitting at the dock in China, would they?  
  
So, while they waited in-between meetings with the Chinese delegation, he threw an entirely new world at her.  And Alice, being Alice, simply caught it and brought it into herself.  She learned the shipping routes (which were dangerous but worth it, which were dangerous and not; that one was steeped in pirates but if you went just a little to the north, you generally could slip by them; they'd lost an entire crew off that port); the ledgers; the names of the people she worked with.  
  
It was like a sponge that had been left out in the sun had been dropped into a bucket of water.  And as she successfully navigated the streets of Hong Kong next to him, Lord Ascot realized how much of a waste it would have been had Alice Kingsley become Alice Ascot.  
  
It wasn't all work as they waited, compromised and bribed.  There were sights to see and tea houses to indulge in, foods to taste and shopping to be accomplished.  And as they walked together, gray head and blond head bowed towards one another, they talked of a great many things.  Things like needing and wanting of things...  
  
"I never really wanted a daughter," he told her in half-apology, embarrassed, as they strolled around their favorite garden.  
  
"No?" she asked, tilting her face up to the sun.  She sported no umbrella and while he knew her poor mother would likely develop conniptions at the very thought, ladies fashion (or in Alice's case, her lack of) simply did not rank very high on his list of things to concern himself over.  
  
"No.  They frighten me.  Having one woman in the family was hard enough on my nerves."  He loved his wife but distance simply did make the heart grow fonder...  
  
"Are you saying that you prefer me not as your daughter-in-law, then?" Alice asked, lips twisting into a teasing smile.  She always managed to turn a conversation on its head when one least expected it.  
  
Lord Ascot laughed.  "I prefer you the way you are now, my dear!  If you had married my Hamish, then we would not be here at this very moment."  
  
"If not a daughter, then, what would you have had?"  
  
He glanced at her.  She had grown into herself considerably in the last year.  Their families had been close friends since before either child had been borne into the world and he had watched her grow up next to his own son.  But, truthfully, the real growth had started when she had reappeared at the party, disheveled from her fall, and announced that she was not to marry Hamish.  Lord Ascot simply had had the pleasure of watching that new found sense of self take hold.  
  
"My beloved wife and I were both only children," he mused as Alice nodded.  "I suppose if I had wanted for anything, it would have been for a niece."  
  
Alice's smile only grew as they continued their walk.  "Why, Lord Ascot, how very fortunate for you see both of my parents were also lacking in siblings and I have often found myself in want of an uncle!"  
  
"Well, I suppose if it is satisfactory upon both parties -"  His lips were twitching.  "- then perhaps we shall be able to fulfill these roles for each other?"  
  
She paused, turning towards him, and they clasped hands formally.  "Well, then, Uncle Howard," Alice began solemnly.  
  
"Yes, dear niece?"  
  
"Shall we continue?  I had ever so wanted to stop by that haberdashery near our hotel."  
  
Lord Ascot tucked her hand into the crook of her arm and started them up again.  "What is it with you and hat shops, my dear?"  
  
"Perhaps, dear uncle, one day I shall tell you a story."  
  
He gazed down at her with the knowledge that their was more to his 'niece' than he could even begin to guess at.  "One day, Alice, I shall very much like to hear that story."


End file.
